Sitrep

[Jim]

They are really pushing you because 4 July is coming. Enjoy, and never, never quit!

Roger that Ranger Jim.
There was also a Battalion change of command so we lost a day due to that too.

Have a great 4th Ranger Jim!

4 July is a good day at George Washington's home. Mount Vernon. I volunteer there.

[kensongakusei]

Graduated Airborne School today.

Jump week is awesome! We did 2 jumps on Sun, 2 on Mon, and our final one yesterday. I got to jump the C-130 1x and the C-17 4x. It was a rush everytime. Pure adrenaline.

For my class jump week was more or less "jump 3 days" because of the schedule/holidays. We had to cram a lot into that time so our days were usually starting about 0330 and ending about 1800 or 1900. You spend a lot of time sitting in the hanger all geared up and waiting to jump. Is it boring. Yes, but just deal with it. You'll get your turn to jump soon enough. The day starts with a class quickly re-going over PLFs. You move to the mock doors to practice and then head to the harness shed to gear up. You'll buddy rig into your harness and then start the safey inspections. It's tedious, but you're about to jump out of an airplane, so embrace the safety checks.

For me the nerves really hit when we were actually sitting on the plane getting ready to jump. I think the hardest part of jump week is overcoming your fear and jumping out of the plane. Once you jump out of the plane, the rest is muscle memory. I'll tell you what though, it's is definitely an awesome rush. Those 4 or 6 seconds in free fall (depends which chute you jump) go by in the blink of an eye and then you just float down to the drop zone, loving life.

If you're nervous, that's ok. Everyone was nervous. Just trust your equipment and trust that the riggers and jump masters do their job extremely well. You'll be ok. The worst injury we had out of over 2000 total jumps was 1 guy twisted his ankle when he landed. Too easy. Besides 18 year old girls do it, so don't sweat jumping out of a plane. It is fun and scary all rolled into one.

Some quick stats:
Classed up with 466
Graduated 401

The main reasons people got dropped were for going out drinking (and getting caught) and/or pulling their reserve chutes on the ground. Just kept your head in the game and you'll fine.

Pre-rasp starts on Tuesday. That's all I know so far...

Happy 4th!

[kensongakusei]

Pre-RASP Sitrep

Hi Rangers and other mentees,

I've been at pre-RASP since this past Tuesday. Here is a quick sitrep about my experience so far

The PT here is great. Heavily focused on running (fast) and pushups. Here is my advice if you are preparing for RASP (and also pre-RASP): Run! And then run some more! Be proficient at body weight movements (pushups, situps, squats...etc) and build a good aerobic base and you will be fine. One word about pullups/chinups. Yes, you will be required to do 6 legit chinups (palms facing you). Before we enter the barracks we are required to do at least 6 chinups. I do 11 per set and am working to 15 per set.

The mindset around here is definitely better than OSUT. The bottom line is you are around a lot of guys who really want to be here, and the ones that don't leave on their own anyway. You are around Rangers all day which is motivating as hell on it's own! You are being set up for future success here. Keep a positive attitude, work hard, and be at the right place at the right time and you'll be on the right path.

Train hard. Stay positive!

Good luck to all the guys who will here soon enough.

[Willy_P]

Good luck dude. You're literally 100 meters from where I work/ live.

[Jim]

Palms in or out on pull-ups?

[kensongakusei]

Good luck dude. You're literally 100 meters from where I work/ live.

Thanks Ranger Willy_P.

I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in life right now.

Palms in or out on pull-ups?

Ranger Jim,

The standard at RASP is palms facing in.
I try to mix up my grip and hand placement though. I feel like palms out is more transferrable to climbing over a wall and palms in has more of a direct application to climbing a rope or pulling your slip with the parachutes.

For the guys heading to pre-RASP here are some of the answers to the questions that seem to come up a lot prior to getting there:

Q. I don't know the Ranger Creed. Should I learn in before pre-RASP?
A. YES! This seems like a no-brainer, but I heard guys talk like that. Learn the Ranger Creed ASAP. From the second you get to pre-RASP, and going forward, you will be expected to know the Ranger Creed. If you don't know it and get called out, guess who suffers? Your Ranger buddies. Learn it!

Q. How long are the days?
A. Really depends on the day, but we generally got released before 1500.

Q. How hard is the PT?
A. You'll do PT every morning. We did a mix of distance running, combat PT, sprint circuits, and obstacle course PT. Personally I thought the PT was great. We ran, in some fashion, everyday. If running isn't your strong suit use this time to improve and build your mental toughness for future runs. How "hard" the PT seems depends on you. Come into pre-RASP in decent shape and you'll be fine. Come in as a slob and you're going to hurt. Bottom line is come in with a positive mental game.

Q. Do I get weekends off?
A. Yes. We had a morning and night accountability formation every day, even on the weekends. Aside from that you are free during the weekends.

Q. Do I get to keep my cell phone?
A. Yes. You can only use it during non-duty hours though.

Q. Can I quit in pre-RASP?
A. Yes, but I don't see why you would be reading this if you want to quit...

Q. Can I bring my car?
A. Yes. You can bring your car, or POV, but make sure you clear it first with the cadre. The guys that let the cadre know had no issues.

If any guys heading to pre-RASP have any other questions, please feel free to post them here and I'll do my best to answer them.

Thanks and good luck.

[kensongakusei]

Week 1 of RASP is complete. I’m planning on posting one sitrep a week for the duration of RASP (and it adds motivation to make it to the next sitrep post.)

Like jth456 already posted, the week was fairly straight forward. Our general schedule is PT in the morning, classes until lunch, and again after lunch until dinner, and then we get released for a few hours before our night formation. So far we have had a weapons class (going over the M4, M240L, and the SAW), a great series of classes on land nav, and a class on fitting the T-11 parachute and jump procedures exiting an aircraft.

The PT so far this week has consisted of a 5 mile run, 6 mile ruck, combat PT, and, APFT improvement drills. Aside from that we double time almost everywhere we go and each time we leave the barracks we drop for pushups, and upon returning we complete a set of 10 chin ups. I've already noticed an increase in my chinup max and pushup max from the frequent sub-max repetitions of these movements.

I've been especially impressed with the professionalism displayed by our cadre. They are great teachers and it is definitely a privilege to be able to learn from them. One thing to remember is the guys selected as cadre are there because they are great at their jobs. Always be ready to write down what they say, and ask questions about things that are unclear. The cadre doesn’t want robots, and they will encourage you to think critically for yourself...not just follow the guy in front of you.

For the guys who will be in RASP in the future keep this in the back of your mind: Your stay at RASP is a privilege. You are going to learn from some of the best teachers in the world. You need to earn your stay each day. Passing the 5 mile run is great, but it's only your meal ticket to stay and train one more day...nothing more, nothing less. Same thing applies to every evolution. We have Cole Range coming up next week. Passing Cole Range is critical, but again it's only our meal ticket to be able to show up for training on Monday of week 3. Earn your spot every day. That being said, at the end of the day you’re getting paid to workout and shoot guns. Why would you want to be anywhere else?

Until next time…

[Jim]

Great SITREP! Have you run into any of your fellow Mentees? Never, never quit!

[Steadfast]

Outstanding sitreps, keep 'em coming.

[kensongakusei]

Great SITREP! Have you run into any of your fellow Mentees? Never, never quit!

Ranger Jim,
So far I've only linked up with John (jth456). He's definitely squared away and I'm glad to have him as a Ranger buddy.

Outstanding sitreps, keep 'em coming.

Roger Ranger Steadfast.

Just hoping to pay it forward for future guys coming through.

[kensongakusei]

Cole Range is over.

The week was definItely rough. We rucked 7 miles out to start the week. Each day we had two land nav practicals, one day and one night. In between land nav iterations, we had various tasks and classes. Are the days long, yea, absolutely, but they do go by quick. Just embrace the suck of it and realize its only 4 days out of your life. I'm being brief about the days on purpose, so as not to ruin any of the fun surprises for guys going through in the future. Just remember, its all doable.

Regarding sleep, we averaged less than 3 hours a night. Dont fall asleep on the land course. The cadre will most likely find you and that will be a bad day for you. Also stay hydrated! We lost a lot of good guys to heat cats. Drink water constantly, even when you're not thristy. If you get thristy you're starting to get dehydrated, and are already behind the power curve. Be smart and stay hydrated.

A lot of guys chafed really bad. I recommend body glide. Its like deodorant stick for your body. Rub it on any parts that might chafe. Trust me it really does help minimize chafing. Other than that just try to break the week up into small events. Make it to the next mre, make it through the next land nav iteration. ..

Good luck

[SLEDGE HAMMER]

Great job, and keep it up. Don't quit!

A lot of guys chafed really bad. I recommend body glide. Its like deodorant stick for your body. Rub it on any parts that might chafe. Trust me it really does help minimize chafing.

I'll second that, although I just used normal gel deodorant because it's what I had with me. Worked like a charm in School and RIP.

[RangerX]

Hold your laughter until you try this....

There were more than a few of us back in the who would cut panty hose off at the knee and wear them for road marching. Chafing was a non-issue.

[RMP-RLTW]

Hold your laughter until you try this....

There were more than a few of us back in the who would cut panty hose off at the knee and wear them for road marching. Chafing was a non-issue.

Everyone was doing that in basic. I remember buying the huge bottle of gold bond and being good with that. It also acted like A/C in the summer. I was a skinny bastard when I showed up at 3/75, 6'1 and 145. Didn't stay that way for too long.


Ryan
RLTW!

[Bronco]

kensongakusei, this question is a bit overdue but while in OSUT do all the guys with option 40 get placed in the same platoon?